"I ask, once again, for an immediate halt to the barbarity of war and a peaceful solution to the conflict," Pope Leo XIV demanded, referring to the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people, according to a statement from the Vatican press office.
After praying the Angelus yesterday in Piazza della Libertà in Castel Gandolfo, the Supreme Pontiff expressed his deep sorrow for the victims of the Israeli attack against the parish of the Holy Family in Gaza last Thursday.
Leo XVI said that "this act, unfortunately, adds to the continuous military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza". He also urged the international community to respect humanitarian law, to protect the civilian population, to reject collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force and the forced displacement of people.
Earlier in the day, after Mass in Albano, the Pope spoke briefly to journalists and stressed the urgency of praying for peace and convincing all parties to dialogue and to lay down their arms. "The world can no longer bear war. There are too many conflicts, too many wars," he warned.
On July 18, after the Israeli attack on the only Catholic Church in Gaza, the Bishop of Rome spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to whom he conveyed his concern "for the dramatic humanitarian situation" experienced by the Palestinians, "whose suffering falls especially on children, the elderly and the sick," he said.
On July 17, the church of the Holy Family was shelled by the Israeli army. It housed many people displaced by the conflict, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem reported.
Three people were killed in the attack, among them the 60-year-old janitor of the parish and an 84-year-old woman, who was receiving psychosocial support; ten other refugees were wounded, and the compound was seriously damaged, according to reports from international agencies.
